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Presents from Canada hit with VAT charges
A Canadian relative's decision to send her Christmas presents in one parcel ended up costing a Chorley couple a small fortune.
Barbara Corry, from Heath Charnock, had to pay 27 to get a parcel of presents from her sister-in-law Margaret Waring, who lives in Ontario, Canada.
Mrs Waring had already paid 30 to make sure the gifts, which included presents for two newborn grandchildren, arrived on time but hadn't realised they'd be slapped with extra VAT charges and various fees.
According to the HM Revenue and Customs website any package sent from abroad worth more than 36 is liable to VAT charges - something Mrs Corry wants Consumer Champion readers to be aware of.
She said: "It is really silly the way it works because if they were sent separately they would have been fine.
"My sister-in-law thought it was making life easier by sending them together. We didn't realise there was so much to it."
Explaining what happened Mrs Corry said: "We exchange gifts every year and we have never had a problem.
"This year my sister-in-law rang to say she was a little late sending the presents so she paid extra to make sure they got here on time.
"When they didn't arrive we were all very upset because there were presents for two new members of the family – my two grandchildren.
"My sister-in-law tracked the parcel online and they arrived in Preston before Christmas but no one contacted us until December 28 and it wasn't until the new year that we actually got them."
The family paid 14.25 VAT and 13.50 in fees just to be able to pick up the presents from a depot in Leyland.
In total, it cost almost 60 to send the presents – almost the same value of the gifts themselves.
A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said: "For customer confidentiality reasons I cannot discuss particular cases. Customs duty is charged on most goods imported into the EU.
"The duty rates are set out in European Community legislation and in the Customs Tariff which classifies the goods and gives the rate of duty.
"This legislation applies to all member states. All non-EU goods imported into the UK are subject to import VAT. It is charged at the appropriate rate that applies to iden tical goods sold in the UK.
"It is applied to protect UK businesses from unfair advantage from cheaper foreign imports."
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Weather for Chorley
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
